Michigan plays 1st NCAA tourney game close to home

The fourth-seeded Wolverines (26-7) will face No. 13 seed South Dakota State (25-9) on Thursday in a South Regional matchup at The Palace of Auburn Hills, located about an hour's drive from Michigan's campus.

This game features two of the nation's top guards in Michigan's Trey Burke and South Dakota State's Nate Wolters.

Burke was the Big Ten player of the year and a unanimous first-team all-Big Ten selection by the league's media and coaches. Wolters, the Summit League player of the year, averages 22.5 points and 5.8 assists per game.

South Dakota State won the Summit League tournament to earn the conference's automatic NCAA bid for the second straight year.